Techniques to managing non-disruptive SAN availability in a partitioned cluster comprising one or more components configured to determine whether to separate a cluster into two or more partitions, notify one or more responsive cluster nodes to separate the cluster into a first partition and a second partition, update one or more access states, notify the host that access states of one or more network paths has been updated, and provide the one or more access states. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
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1. A method, comprising: providing, by an electronic device, access states for at least two logical interfaces to a host, the at least two logical interfaces comprising a first and a second logical interfaces, each logical interface being configured to provide access to a first and a second storage units; receiving, by the electronic device, status information indicating a partition event has occurred; transitioning, by the electronic device, to a majority partition after the partition event; disassociating, by the electronic device, from an out of partition cluster node that transitioned to a minority partition after the partition event; updating, by the electronic device, at least one access state for at least one logical interface; notifying, by the electronic device, the host of the at least updated access state; and providing, by the electronic device, the at least one updated access state for the at least one logical interface, such that the host maintains access to the first storage unit via the first logical interface and the second storage unit via the second logical interface after the partition event.
An electronic device manages storage access in a clustered system that can split into partitions. The device provides initial access states for two logical interfaces (first and second), each allowing access to two storage units (first and second). When the device detects a cluster partition event and transitions to the majority partition, it disconnects from cluster nodes in the minority partition. The device then updates the access states for the logical interfaces to reflect changes due to the partition, notifies a host system about the updated access states, and provides these updated states, ensuring the host continues to access the first storage unit via the first logical interface and the second storage unit via the second logical interface even after the partitioning.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining, by the electronic device, when the partition event has occurred based at least partially on connectivity with a cluster node; and notifying, by the electronic device, at least one cluster node with status information for the out of partition cluster node.
The method described in claim 1 further includes the electronic device determining when a cluster partition event occurs based on connectivity with another cluster node, and notifying at least one other cluster node of the status of the disconnected (out of partition) cluster node. This helps maintain awareness of the cluster's state and the availability of nodes within it.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of determining further comprises: sending,by the electronic device, at least one heartbeat signal to the cluster node; determining, by the electronic device, occurrence of the partition event in the cluster based at least partially on a threshold number of heartbeat response signals received from the cluster node; and declaring, by the electronic device, the cluster node as the out of partition cluster node after the cluster node fails to respond to the threshold number of heartbeat signals.
The step of determining the partition event occurrence from claim 2 involves the electronic device sending heartbeat signals to a cluster node, monitoring the number of received heartbeat responses, and declaring the other cluster node as out-of-partition if the response rate falls below a threshold. This missing heartbeat indicates a connectivity issue and triggers the partition handling process.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the status information comprises quorum state information indicating the out of partition cluster node as out-of-quorum and connectivity state information indicating that the out of partition cluster node is out of partition.
The status information from claim 2 includes quorum state information, indicating that the disconnected (out of partition) cluster node is no longer part of the quorum, and connectivity state information, specifically stating that the node is out of partition. This provides detailed reasons for the node's unavailability.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the disassociating further comprises: evicting, by the electronic device, at least one component of the out of partition cluster node that transitioned to the minority partition from at least one distributed group; and leaving, by the electronic device, at least one distributed group managing at least one storage unit of the out of partition cluster node that transitioned to the minority partition.
The disassociation process from claim 1 involves the electronic device removing components of the disconnected (out of partition) cluster node from distributed groups and leaving distributed groups that manage storage units belonging to that node. This isolates the minority partition's resources.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the host is communicatively coupled to the at least two logical interfaces to access the first and second storage units managed by at least two cluster nodes in a cluster, and the partition event separates the cluster into at least two partitions comprising at least the majority partition and the minority partition.
In claim 1, the host system connects to the two logical interfaces to access the first and second storage units, managed by two or more cluster nodes. When a partition event occurs, the cluster splits into at least two partitions: a majority and a minority partition. This is the scenario in which the device updates and maintains access to the appropriate storage units.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one access state indicates that at least one storage unit managed by the out of partition cluster node in the minority partition is inaccessible via the at least one logical interface.
The access state update from claim 1 reflects that the storage unit(s) managed by the disconnected (out of partition) cluster node in the minority partition is now inaccessible through at least one logical interface. This informs the host that certain resources are no longer available.
8. An electronic device comprising: a memory containing machine readable medium comprising machine executable code having stored thereon instructions for performing a method of managing non-disruptive storage area network availability in a partitioned cluster; a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute the machine executable code to cause the processor to: provide access states for at least two logical interfaces to a host, the at least two logical interfaces comprising a first and a second logical interfaces, each logical interface being configured to provide access to a first and a second storage units, transition to a majority partition or a minority partition after a partition event, disassociate from an out of partition cluster node that transitioned to a different partition after the partition event, update at least one access state for at least one logical interface, notify the host of the at least one updated access state, and provide the at least one updated access state for the at least one logical interface, such that the host maintains access to the first storage unit via the first logical interface and the second storage unit via the second logical interface after the partition event.
An electronic device manages storage area network availability by using a processor and memory to execute code that: provides access states for two logical interfaces (first and second), each for accessing two storage units (first and second); transitions to either a majority or minority partition after a cluster partition event; disconnects from a cluster node that ended up in a different partition; updates access states for logical interfaces; notifies a host about the updated access states; and provides the updated access states, so the host maintains access to the first storage unit via the first logical interface and the second storage unit via the second logical interface after the partitioning.
9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one component is to further determine whether the partition event has occurred, notify at least one cluster node with status information of an out of partition cluster node, and receive status information indicating a partition event has occurred.
In addition to the electronic device described in claim 8, the device also determines if a partition event occurred, notifies other cluster nodes about the status of the out-of-partition node, and receives status information indicating that a partition event happened.
10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one component determines whether the partition event has occurred is to further send at least one heartbeat signal to a cluster node, determine occurrence of the partition event based at least partially on a threshold number of heartbeat response signals received from the cluster node, and declare the cluster node as the out of partition cluster node after the cluster node fails to respond to the threshold number of heartbeat signals.
The component of the device from claim 9 that determines the partition event sends heartbeat signals to other cluster nodes, determines a partition occurred based on the number of heartbeat responses received, and declares a node as out-of-partition when the number of missed heartbeat signals exceeds a threshold.
11. The device of claim 9 , wherein the status information comprises quorum state information indicating the out of partition cluster node that transitioned to a different partition as out-of-quorum and connectivity state information indicating that the out of partition cluster node as out of partition.
The status information from claim 9 includes quorum state information indicating that the node in the other partition is out-of-quorum and connectivity state information specifying the node is out-of-partition.
12. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least component is to further evict at least one component of the out of partition cluster node that transitioned to the different partition from at least one distributed group, and leave at least one distributed group managing at least one storage unit of the out of partition cluster node that transitioned to the different partition.
The electronic device from claim 8 further evicts components of the out-of-partition node from distributed groups and leaves distributed groups managing the storage units of that node.
13. The device of claim 8 , wherein the host is communicatively coupled to the at least two logical interfaces to access the first and second storage units managed by at least two cluster nodes in a cluster, and the partition event separates the cluster into at least two partitions comprising at least the majority partition and the minority partition.
As in claim 8, the host connects to the two logical interfaces for access to the storage units, and the cluster partition event splits the cluster into at least two partitions (majority and minority).
14. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one access state indicates that at least one storage unit managed by the out of partition cluster node in the different partition is inaccessible via the at least one logical interface.
As in claim 8, the access state information indicates that the storage unit managed by the out-of-partition node is inaccessible through at least one logical interface.
15. A non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions for performing a method comprising machine executable code which when executed by at least one machine, cause the machine to: provide access states for at least two logical interfaces to a host, the at least two logical interfaces comprising a first and a second logical interfaces, each logical interface being configured to provide access to a first and a second storage units; transition to a minority partition after a partition event; disassociate from an out of partition cluster node that transitioned to a majority partition after the partition event; update at least one access state for at least one logical interface; notify the host of the at least updated access state; and provide the at least one updated access state for the at least one logical interface, such that the host maintains access to the first storage unit via the first logical interface and the second storage unit via the second logical interface after the partition event.
A non-transitory, machine-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause it to provide access states for two logical interfaces (first and second), each for accessing two storage units (first and second); transition to a minority partition after a cluster partition event; disconnect from a cluster node in the majority partition; update access states for the logical interfaces; notify a host about the updated states; and provide updated states, so the host maintains access to the first storage unit via the first logical interface and the second storage unit via the second logical interface after the partitioning.
16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the system to: determine whether the partition event has occurred based at least partially on connectivity with a cluster node; notify at least one cluster node with status information for the out of partition cluster node; and receive status information indicating the partition event has occurred.
In addition to the instructions in claim 15, the instructions further cause the system to determine if a partition event occurred based on connectivity to a cluster node, notify other cluster nodes about the out-of-partition node's status, and receive status information indicating that a partition event happened.
17. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions to determine whether the partition event has occurred, when executed, further cause the system to: send at least one heartbeat signal to the cluster node; determine occurrence of the partition event based at least partially on a threshold number of heartbeat response signals received from the cluster node; and declare the cluster node as the out of partition cluster node after the cluster node fails to respond to the threshold number of heartbeat signals.
The instructions in claim 16 to determine if a partition occurred include sending heartbeat signals to cluster nodes, determining the partition event based on the number of heartbeat responses received, and declaring a node out-of-partition when the number of missed heartbeats exceeds a threshold.
18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions to disassociate from the out of partition cluster node, when executed, further cause the system to: evict at least one component of the out of partition cluster node that transitioned to a majority partition from at least one distributed group; and leave at least one distributed group managing at least one storage unit of the out of partition cluster node that transitioned to the majority partition.
The instructions in claim 15 to disassociate from the out-of-partition node include evicting components of that node from distributed groups and leaving distributed groups managing storage units of that node.
19. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the host is communicatively coupled to the at least two logical interfaces to access the first and second storage units managed by at least two cluster nodes in a cluster, and the partition event separates the cluster into at least two partitions comprising at least the majority partition and the minority partition.
In claim 15, the host is communicatively coupled to two logical interfaces to access the first and second storage units managed by cluster nodes, and the cluster partition event separates the cluster into a majority partition and a minority partition.
20. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the at least one access state indicates that at least one storage unit managed by the out of partition cluster node in the majority partition is inaccessible via the at least one logical interface.
The access state from claim 15 indicates that at least one storage unit managed by the cluster node in the majority partition is inaccessible via at least one logical interface.
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October 29, 2014
May 2, 2017
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